Schools, hospitals and other like institutions charged with the responsibility for serving food to large numbers of persons are faced with the ever increasing cost of labor associated with food preparation and service. The goal of serving wholesome food products, without risk of contamination, at reasonable cost may best be realized by minimizing food handling. In hospitals, for example, where dietary control and food quantity intake are of essential importance the advantage of using pre-prepared food products prepared under carefully controlled conditions for direct service from the original containers in which the food products are stored is readily recognized. The present invention is concerned with the aforedescribed general problems.
Accordingly, it is the general aim of the present invention to provide an improved disposable all-purpose container which may serve both as a package for a pre-prepared food product and as a serving container for the food product. A further aim of the present invention is to provide an all-purpose container for a product which may be stored in a frozen condition or under refrigeration to be served cold or which may be heated in the container by a microwave process or in a conventional convection oven to be served hot or in a warm condition. Yet another aim of the invention is to provide such a container which may be employed as a package for a dried or dehydrated product which is activated by adding hot or cold water or other liquid to the product while the product remains in the container and which may then be served in the container.